From ancient times, Turkmenistan has been renowned as the land of orchard. Since its independence, the country has constantly been involved in expanding its forest cover areas. A number of decrees were issued aiming at planting trees. In 1999, for better coordination of these activities a stand alone national body was established, named “Gok Gushak” (Green Belt).
Following the decree of the President, some 53 million saplings (coniferous, foliage trees and fruit trees) were planted along motor ways during the period of 1998 and 2006. Some 47 governmental bodies as well as all five provinces participated in this initiative.
This was followed by another decree dated 29 May 2006 that commits some three millions saplings to be planted annually in the areas adjacent to Ashgabad.
According to the latest decree of 8 June 2007, some 880,000 thousands saplings have been planted along the encircling highway of Ashgabad.
President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov launched this operation personally. The overall area of land allocated for planting tree activities is 25 thousand hectares. |
